Trends and Opportunities in Mobile and Internet Space in China and Rest of the World

Thursday, March 29, 2007

China to put $10bn into big airliners

China will challenge Boeing and Airbus

THE announcement by China's cabinet that it had made an "important strategic decision" to research and develop the manufacture of large passenger jets will have come as no surprise to foreign aviation groups.

China has never hidden its desire to enter a market dominated by Boeing of the US and Europe's Airbus.

Its ambition was publicly laid out as recently as last year in a government science and technology paper.

China surely wants to build its own aircraft. It wants to be able to make money off itself. The attractiveness of the China market is in no doubt. Airbus's latest forecast puts China in second place behind only the US by both the number and value of jets needed between 2006 and 2025, with a market for 2929 large aircraft worth $US349 billion ($436 billion).

Not a surprising move after all China has already had bigger initiative like putting the 1st man to the moon and going to Mars in the nearest future.